Final fling

Arsène Wenger has a message for Arsenal as they face Barcelona in Wednesday's Champions League final - play our natural game and we'll win

Back in September, after Arsenal had lost two of their first four matches in the Premiership, Arsène Wenger announced to a sceptical press conference that his side were going to win the European Cup instead. There were knowing smiles all round, but nobody is laughing now.

Only Barcelona (a sizeable “only”, admittedly) stand between Wenger’s Arsenal and a repeat of Liverpool’s achievement last season, when they were never in contention for the Premiership but triumphed in Europe in historic circumstances.

It is too much to expect Wednesday’s final in Paris to match the denouement 12 months ago, when Liverpool fought back from a three-goal deficit to beat Milan on penalties, but Wenger promises: “Once one team scores, it will certainly be an open and crazy game.”

Reminded of his early-season prediction, the Arsenal manager smiles and chides: “You thought I was crazy at the time.” So what convinced him that